


Seems you're the only one who knows what it's like to be me

by viudanegra



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Completely AU, F/F, Just Fluff All Around, This is what happens when you rewatch FRIENDS for the 84th time, Y'all will probably hate it but it had to be done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2019-11-16 01:17:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18084635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viudanegra/pseuds/viudanegra
Summary: Ending the previous day in bed with her best friend’s little sister wasn’t something that Toni had planned. It just happened.Did she feel guilty about it? A little bit. Did she enjoy it? A lot. Would she do it again? In a heartbeat.orToni and Cheryl sleep together before Jason's wedding and start a secret relationship.orThe Cheryl/Toni as Monica/Chandler AU that no one asked for.





	1. The one with the beginning

“I’m getting married today!” Shouted an excited Jason Blossom as he entered Toni Topaz’s hotel room before leaving a second later, the sound of the door closing behind him the only proof that he had even been there in the first place.

One of her favorite people in the world was getting married to Polly Cooper in a matter of hours and she couldn’t be happier about it, but there were more important matters happening at that moment.

“Do you think he saw me?” Asked Cheryl Blossom as she emerged from under the covers, her disheveled red hair making her look softer than she normally did.

Ending the previous day in bed with her best friend’s little sister wasn’t something that Toni had planned. It just happened.

Did she feel guilty about it? A little bit. Did she enjoy it? A lot. Would she do it again? In a heartbeat.

“I think we’re in the clear.” Answered the brunette as she turned her body to lay on her side, prompting herself up by the elbow to look down at this beautiful woman she had known for the last 12 years.

She had always felt attracted to the younger girl, could even admit to being crushing on her for as long as she had known her, but she never thought that this would actually happened. Not even after Cheryl came out of the closet during her sophomore year of college. It just seemed impossible that she would look at Toni that way.

Guess she was wrong.

She lifted her finger and traced Cheryl’s face, her digit painting over her features like a brush over a blank canvas, and she smiled when she saw the red-haired girl close her eyes before pressing her lips to the appendage of her hand in the softest of kisses.

“So, is this when we talk about what happened last night?” Cheryl asked her when she opened her eyes, taking Toni’s hand that had been tracing her face in hers and interlacing their fingers.

“I suppose.” Toni replied before chuckling lightly, squeezing the other girl’s hand. “Any regrets?” Was the question that left her lips because her answer was the only thing that mattered after their activities from the night prior, so she locked eyes with Cheryl and waited for her reply, which came after a few seconds.

“No.” Cheryl assured her, shaking her head as she responded to her inquiry. “You?” She asked her timidly, biting her bottom lip after the words came out of her mouth. Toni didn’t hesitate in answering.

“Never.” She murmured before bringing Cheryl’s hand to her lips and kissing the back of it.

And the smile the redheaded girl offered her after hearing her answer? Life changing.

 

* * *

 

To say that the wedding had been a disaster was an understatement. Veronica Lodge had decided to attend the event at the last minute, and Jason, who apparently still wasn’t one hundred percent over the raven-haired girl, had said her name instead of Polly’s during their vows.

It had been a really awkward situation, but for some reason, they still had gotten married and now they were all back in New York City and Jason couldn’t talk to Veronica anymore so Polly would come live with him and Veronica was distancing herself from the gang and Toni just didn’t like everything that was going on.

What she did like was the fact that she was still secretly seeing Cheryl. They had decided not to tell the others about whatever was going on between them because everything was already too weird between them with the whole Jason and Veronica situation, so they wanted to keep this to themselves until the right moment.

However, not putting a label to whatever they were doing became a problem six weeks into their non-relationship when all of them ended up at the hospital thanks to Fangs and a few broken bones after crashing his motorcycle on his way back home from work.

A few days earlier, Cheryl had asked her if they were exclusive, and Toni, not knowing if she had asked her because she wanted to see other people, had told her that she was free to do whatever she wanted. After all, they were _just friends_.

Obviously, it had been the wrong answer, because now Cheryl had gotten a nurse’s number and was planning on calling her that night to go out with her. Toni was pissed, and by the smirk on Cheryl’s face, the red-haired girl knew that she was pissed, but she wasn’t going to do anything to make her feel better because this had been all the brunette’s fault.

So, admitting defeat, Toni had taken her to a supply closet to talk to her in private.

“Okay, I get it. I know what you’re trying to do. I heard the message loud and clear.” The shorter girl said, pouting a little, which only made the taller girl chuckle.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, TT.” She said innocently, and Toni rolled her eyes before getting closer to her and resting her hands on her hips, squeezing them lightly before she started nudging the porcelain skin of her jawline with her nose, her lips leaving a stain of lip gloss below her ear when she pressed them to that spot in a sweet kiss.

“What I meant is that I don’t want us to see other people. No one else may know about us, but you’re _mine_. And not just in a friendly way, but in every aspect. So, I must ask…” She said all of this while leaving kisses on her jaw and neck but stopped to look into her eyes before she said her next words.

“Cheryl Blossom, will you be my girlfriend?” The question lingered between them, but the smile that appeared on the red-haired girl’s face after a couple of seconds was enough answer.

“Of course, I will be your girlfriend, Toni.” Cheryl replied, the smile never leaving her face as she grabbed the back of the photojournalist’s head and brought her lips to hers in a soft and slow kiss.

“But I may need to make this official after my date with that nurse. She was rather hot.” She said with a smirk once they broke apart, their lips still brushing against each other’s, and Toni groaned in annoyance.

“Ugh, I can’t stand you.” The brunette replied, and the loud laughter that left Cheryl’s body made Toni feel complete. Like she had finally found that missing piece in her heart that made it beat to the right rhythm.

Twelve years ago, during an uneventful Thanksgiving dinner at the Blossom’s estate, Toni Topaz had met her soulmate, the love of her life, but she was just realizing it now.

Better late than never.


	2. The one when someone finds out

It was on a Wednesday night while lying in bed, three weeks after they made their relationship official, when Cheryl confessed one of her darkest secrets to Toni.

Turns out, Toni had been Cheryl’s first real crush after coming to terms with her sexuality. She hadn’t come out to her friends and family for a few more years, but she had accepted to herself the fact that she was a lesbian during the summer between her junior and senior year of High School, and when she met the then pink-haired girl a few months later, she had definitely caught her eye immediately.

Toni was the bassist of some band that Jason had started in college and, apparently, they had become instant best friends, which is why her big brother had taken her to the annual Blossom Thanksgiving dinner, one that her own best friend Veronica Lodge had attended since they were in middle school.

Being half Native American, Toni really didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving or ate the traditional food cooked for the festivity, something that she had told the older Blossom kid weeks prior, but he had insisted that she joined him and his family after he had learned that she didn’t have plans for the long weekend, and that’s how she had ended up on the passenger seat of Jason’s Impala as he drove them north of New York City for a few hours to a little town called Riverdale.

Unknown to Cheryl, until now, Toni had also developed a crush on the younger redhead the day they met. After Cheryl had learned that Toni didn’t eat anything of what they had prepared for dinner that night, she had offered to cook mac and cheese for the older girl, winning her over pretty much immediately.

Back in the day, Cheryl didn’t look like her current bombshell self. She was an awkward girl with braces who wore glasses a little too big for her face, and her closet consisted of overalls, a braid always adorning her copper hair. To be honest, Toni had thought that she was adorable, but the fact that she had been thoughtful enough to cook dinner for her had melted her heart, a crush on the younger girl forming without her meaning to.

Since then, Cheryl had cooked mac and cheese for her on Thanksgiving, and she was planning on doing it again the next day.

“Full disclosure, I never thought that I would get a chance with you.” Toni confessed, and she smiled when she felt Cheryl’s lips pressing a soft kiss on her bare collarbone before the redhead laid her head once again on her chest.

“And why is that?” Cheryl asked her curiously, her cold finger tracing random patterns on her hipbone absently, making goosebumps appear on the brunette’s skin.

“First of all, you were supposed to be straight when I met you, and once you came out, you were already, well, _you_. All beauty and curves and legs for days and sex appeal, and I was still stuck on the grunge fashion and had pink hair.” Toni explained, and her girlfriend chuckled, pressing a kiss to her jaw this time.

“To be completely honest, _j'ai aimé_ your flannel mesh aesthetic. And sometimes I miss the pink hair. It made you stand out, but in a good way.” She shrugged, and Toni looked down at her in shock.

“Really?” The older girl asked her incredulously, and once Cheryl nodded in confirmation, she hummed lightly, pondering.

“You know, lately I have been thinking about getting some purple streaks. Maybe I should go for it.” She told her after a bit, and the smile the redhead offered her was contagious.

“I’m positive that you would look dashing, babe.” Her girlfriend reassured her before Toni cupped her cheek and leaned down to press her lips against hers in a soft kiss.

“Anything for you, love.” Toni promised her before closing the distance between them once again.

 

* * *

 

Sweet Pea’s the first to find out about them, and Toni’s actually surprised that it didn’t happen earlier, considering that she lives with the guy and Cheryl was always sneaking into their apartment from the one across the hall.

The couple had planned a romantic weekend getaway to Cape May, just to get away from all the drama surrounding the gang lately thanks to Jason and Veronica.

Cheryl had told the others that she had to attend a colleague’s art exhibition in Philadelphia, and Toni, not realizing that her girlfriend had mentioned the same city, had told them that she had to shoot a photoshoot for a magazine over there as well.

No one seemed to suspect anything about it, so they went and enjoyed their weekend. Or at least tried to enjoy their weekend after they had their first fight as a couple while in there. It was dumb, and they managed to reconciliate by the end of their stay, but Toni wished that they hadn’t even fought in the first place because they had wasted valuable hours that they weren’t getting back, hours that they could have spent together.

Once they had gotten back to New York City, Sweet Pea had asked her about her weekend, and she had decided to tell him about her Malia Obama sighting, who was also staying at Cape May, not that he would know that.

They were sitting in Cheryl and Veronica’s living room when it happened.

“So, Cheryl. Anything exciting happened while you were in Philadelphia?” Fangs asked her, making small talk as they waited for Jason to arrive so they could go to the movies.

“Not really. But I saw Malia Obama.” She answered with a shrug, and Toni started to panic as soon as she saw Sweet Pea’s eyes widen in pure shock, the tall guy looking from Toni to Cheryl and back to Toni as he tried to form words, and before he could say anything, the couple was rushing him into Cheryl’s bedroom so he wouldn’t say anything in front of Fangs and Veronica.

Sweet Pea started pacing as soon as the door closed behind the redhead, and he pointed accusatory fingers at them before opening his mouth.

“You?! And you?!” He asked incredulously, and the girls nodded slowly as Cheryl wrapped her arms around Toni’s waist from behind, resting her chin on the shorter girl’s shoulder.

“Yes, Pea. Cheryl and I are together.” Toni told him, and she had to admit that it felt amazing to say it out loud to someone else.

The raven-haired boy just looked at them, shocked by the news, before he remembered how to form words.

“Since when?” He inquired, and Cheryl offered him a smile before she replied, remembering their first night together all those months ago.

“Since Jason and Polly’s wedding.” The red-haired girl said, and Toni had to roll her eyes when she heard her friend gasp in surprise.

“Since the wedding? But that was almost four months ago!” He almost shouted, and the couple shushed him before he could say anything else.

“Could you lower your voice? We don’t want the others to hear you.” Cheryl pleaded to him, and he nodded before he got closer to them so he didn’t have to speak so loudly.

“Why can’t the others know? I mean, this is huge!” Sweet Pea said, his hands moving all over the place as he spoke because of how into the conversation he was.

“That’s exactly why. We already have enough drama with my brother and Polly and Veronica, so we don’t want to add more fuel to the fire. Once everything goes back to normal, or as normal as it can after what happened at the wedding, we would consider telling the others about us.” Cheryl explained, a tiny frown forming on her brow before Toni squeezed her hand and pressed her lips to her cheek, making the redhead smile.

The tall guy’s expression softened at the sight. “Goddamnit, you look adorable together.” He admitted, making the girls chuckle, and now it was Cheryl’s turn to kiss her girlfriend’s cheek.

“I guess we do.” She replied with a playful smirk on her face, and the raven-haired guy just rolled his eyes in respond. “So, can you keep our secret to yourself? At least until we’re ready to tell the others.” Cheryl asked him, locking eyes with him to make him see just how serious she was, and when he sighed a few seconds later, she knew he would do it.

“Fine. But you two owe me big time. I call dibs on being your firstborn’s godfather.” He told them playfully once he agreed to keep their secret, and Cheryl felt Toni’s body tense immediately at the mention of kids.

“Babe, he’s just playing. We literally just made this official a few weeks ago. Relax.” The redhead whispered in her ear, and she felt her girlfriend’s shoulders loosen up a bit at her words, her hand squeezing hers over her hold on her waist, and Cheryl kissed her temple in return.

Truth be told, Cheryl had definitely started thinking about a future with Toni, normally late at night when she was on the purple-haired girl’s arms, but that was a conversation for another day. She wasn’t about to scare the girl away.


	3. The one with the lies

Sweet Pea finding out about their relationship was the best thing that could have happened to them because now they were able to be just themselves in Toni’s apartment. No more hiding between those walls, no more running to the purple-haired’s bedroom whenever they heard the door unlock, no more sneaking around in the middle of the night, and God did it feel good.

Also, it meant that they had someone else to help them cover their tracks.

They were grabbing breakfast at Cheryl and Veronica’s apartment, the six of them, when Fangs found a pair of panties between the cushions of the couch. Panicked, the couple and Sweet Pea interchanged looks, trying to come up with a quick excuse once Veronica started asking for the owner of said piece of underwear.

Not knowing what else to say, and feeling the pressure of the situation, Toni blurred out the first thing that came to mind, which was to accuse Sweet Pea of bringing a girl to the apartment they were currently at. Veronica focused her eyes on the tall guy in question, a look of disgust in her face.

“Is that true, Nathaniel? Are you bringing girls to our place when we’re not around?” She asked him, throwing the piece of lace into his lap, and Sweet Pea knew that she was mad because she had used his real name. He gulped before answering.

“It’s true.” He said, his eyes never leaving Toni’s, trying to let her know that she was in big trouble for pulling this shit on him.

“Why the fuck would you do that? You literally live across the hall!” Veronica said, and the look of disappointment was evident. The raven-haired guy sighed before turning to look at her in shame.

“Because I’m Sweet Pea. I’m disgusting. I take girls to other apartments so they won’t know where I live.” He lied, and the thankful look that Cheryl sent his way almost made him forget how mad he was at them.

“Well, this ends today because I don’t want random skanks parading in our home.” She told him before turning back to make herself a cup of coffee.

“It won’t happen again. I promise.” He reassured her before standing up. “Toni, a word?” He demanded, and before she could even answer him, he was making his way back to their apartment, holding the door open for the short girl and slamming it once she was inside.

“That’s it. I’m tired of covering for you two. This has got to stop.” He said before throwing the underwear into one of the reclining chairs.

Before Toni got a chance to speak, Cheryl was walking through the door, thankful comments leaving her lips immediately, but Sweet Pea refused to accept them, shaking his head at her words.

“Hey, no. You’re not welcome, okay? I hate this! I hate lying to our friends. This isn’t what we do.” He said, and he could see the looks of guilt in his friends’ eyes. Good.

“Look, all this lying has been hard on us, too, alright?” Toni started, but he scoffed, successfully interrupting her.

“Oh, yeah, I bet all the sex makes it easier.” He said, sounding irritated, and Toni just rolled her eyes.

“We’ll try to be more careful, okay? It’s just that… we don’t want everyone to know because this is going really well. And maybe the reason it’s going really well is… is because it’s a secret.” Cheryl explained, her voice sounding softer than it usually did, and he sighed. She had always had a way of calming him, even if she wasn’t even trying to do it.

“I know it sounds really weird, but we’re just both so bad at relationships.” Toni finished, and Sweet Pea sighed once again. He could feel almost of all his anger disappearing. God, he loved these idiots.

“Alright.” He said, defeated, before looking at them with a raised eyebrow. “But I get to see your sex tape at some point.”

“Nathaniel!” Both of them said at the same time, and he just rolled his eyes, turning around to go to his bedroom.

“I’m just joking. But it didn’t hurt to try.” He replied without turning to look at them, and soon he was disappearing inside his bedroom, leaving the couple behind.

 

* * *

 

When Sweet Pea entered his and Toni’s apartment a few days later, a girl accompanying him after a date, he spotted an old iPad sitting on the kitchen counter and pointing to the blankets and pillows on the living room floor, which were surrounded by candles. And more importantly, said iPad was recording the scene in front of it.

So, he had been right about them making sex tapes. But now it wasn’t the time to think about that because his date was talking, and he hadn’t been paying attention.

“Is that iPad recording? You’re such a pig! I can’t believe you were going to film us having sex on the first date!” His date shouted at him before leaving the apartment, not even waiting for an explanation.

Just as she was leaving, Veronica was walking down the hall to her own apartment, and after hearing the whole thing, that look of disgust covered her features once again. He was getting really tired of getting that expression thrown at him, especially because he didn’t deserve it. At least not the last couple of times that had happened.

Without uttering a single word, the raven-haired girl walked into her neighbor's apartment and studied the scene, her eyes scanning every single square fit of it, before she turned to look at Sweet Pea.

“Sweets, were you really going to—” She started, but before she could finish her question, Toni walked out of her bedroom and interrupted her.

“What is going on here?” The photographer asked, faking innocence. He had to give it to her; she was a pretty good actress.

Veronica’s eyes widened at the sound of her voice, and after looking back at her for a second to make sure that she was actually there, she returned her attention back to the tall guy.

“Oh, my God. You were going to do this with Toni in the next room? What’s wrong with you?! Are you sick?” The girl asked him, and her disgust towards him just grew.

He wanted to kill those two for embarrassing him like this, but the pleading expression on Toni’s face made him lie again.

“I’m Sweet Pea. I’m disgusting. I make low-budget adult films for some extra cash.” He said, and Veronica just looked at him in confusion and disappointment before shaking her head and leaving the apartment without another word, probably too shocked to say anything to him about his supposed side job.

Once the door closed behind her, Cheryl joined him and Toni in the living room, that look of guilt all over her face for the second time in the last couple of weeks. That seemed to be her default expression lately. He opened his mouth before either of them could say anything.

“You promised that you would be more careful! I mean, come on, the good Sweet Pea name is being dragged through the mud here!” He hissed at them. He was pissed but, could you blame him?

“We’re so sorry, Sweets. We really are. We didn’t plan for this to happen.” Cheryl was quick to answer, and Toni agreed a second later, nodding at her girlfriend’s words.

“Well, it happened, so I’m telling everyone about you. It’s the only way to explain the underwear and the recording iPad that doesn’t make me look like a pig!” He shouted exasperated. He was running out of patient after so many days of lying to the others.

“No, wait! There’s got to be a better explanation. You… you could tell them that you had to make an adult film because you’re taking an adult film class because you want to become a porn star.” Toni came up with the ridiculous excuse, and for a moment Sweet Pea seemed to buy it, before he was shaking his head in disagreement, realizing how crazy the idea was.

“But, how does that explain why Ronnie found a pair of lace underwear at your place?” He asked Cheryl, and he could see the engines turning inside their heads, trying to come up with yet another lie, before giving up.

“I don’t know…” Toni said at last, unable to come up with a believable excuse to tell their friends.

Sweet Pea just shook his head at them.

“Well, get ready to come out of the non-gay closet, because this is it. I’m done.” He replied, and Cheryl started pleading with him once again almost immediately.

“Just wait, please. I promise we’ll come up with something. Just give us a little more time.” She threw him those puppy dog eyes that always made him soft for her, and he was agreeing to her request before his brain could catch up with his mouth.

“Alright. But it better make me look really, really good.” The raven-haired guy warned them, and before he could agree to more things, he was making his way to his bedroom without another word.

“Thanks, Sweets!” Toni shouted after him, but he just flipped her the bird before closing the door behind him.

 

* * *

 

A hungry Sweet Pea arrived at his apartment with a bucket of fried chicken in one arm, his free hand reaching for the book that he had seen Toni reading a few days earlier and that was currently resting on the kitchen counter, but as he lifted it, a polaroid came out of it, landing on the wooden floor. Curious to see what it was, he picked it up, his eyes widening when he was met with the image of a very naked Cheryl Blossom filling the whole picture.

“Oh, my God! That’s Cheryl!” Veronica’s voice shouted from behind him, and as he turned around, he realized that he hadn’t closed the door after his arrival, the short raven-haired girl looking past the side of his body to the polaroid on his left hand.

Looking from Veronica to the picture and back to the girl, his eyes widened once again, but this time in fear of what his friend would think of the situation, so he started shaking his head furiously, trying to make her stop the bad thoughts that were crossing her mind at the moment.

“Oh, no, no. No, no, no, no, no!” He said quickly, but she was already getting away from him, pretty much running to the other side of the apartment, probably thinking the worst.

“Get away from me, you sick, sick, sicko!” The girl yelled at him, and all the shouting attracted the attention of the rest of their gang, who were in the apartment across the hall.

“What’s going on?” Jason asked as soon as he entered the apartment, Fangs, Toni and Cheryl following close behind.

“Sweets has got a secret peephole.” Veronica said, and the others looked at her like she had grown a second head, not understanding what she was trying to say. Noticing the polaroid on Sweets’ hand, Toni started to panic, and she blurred out some words before she even knew what she was saying.

“Is that what I think it is?” The purple-haired girl asked, pointing to the picture and bringing everyone’s attention to it.

“Yes. He has a naked picture of Cheryl. He takes naked pictures of us, then he eats chicken and then he looks at them!” The Latina explained, sounding like a mad woman, and Sweet Pea just shook his head and looked at the ceiling, knowing that they were in really big trouble now.

He left his bucket of fried chicken in the kitchen counter and went to sit on his reclining chair, seeing how Veronica showed the rest of the group the evidence, Jason covering his eyes because he didn’t want to see his little sister naked.

“Give me that.” Cheryl said, taking the picture from Veronica’s fingers, before turning to look at Toni with a look of panic in her eyes. Before any of them could say anything, Fangs was opening his mouth.

“Alright, wait. Just wait. Everybody just calm down, okay? Let’s give our friend Sweet Pea a chance to explain why he’s such a big pervert.” The shorter guy said, and the raven-haired man could see the judgment in his friend’s eyes. He was tired of this.

“No! I’m not a pervert, okay? It’s just… I just kind of…” He trailed off, not knowing what to say. He wasn’t good at thinking on his feet, and he was an even worse liar.

“Look, look. I think I can explain this.” Toni interrupted him, and Sweet Pea’s face lighted up, thinking that she was ready to come clean and get him out of this whole mess, but that wasn’t her plan at all. “Sweets’ a sex addict.” The purple-haired girl finished, and the tall man’s jaw dropped in shock.

He pulled himself to his feet in a second and walked to the tiny girl. “What?! No, I’m not! I am _not_ a sex addict!” He shouted, starting to get pissed, and now it was Cheryl’s turn to interrupt him.

“Yes, you are! But it’s okay. It’s good. It’s a disease. And that’s the only way to explain all this stuff.” She said, locking eyes with him, silently pleading him not to out them now, before she turned to look at the others.

He wasn’t going to ruin his reputation just because they were cowards. He was allowed to be selfish once in a while.

“No, it isn’t. No, it’s not. Because you could also explain it with the truth.” He said firmly.

“Well, what is the truth?” Veronica asked, sounding annoyed, Jason and Fangs matching her expression.

Toni and Cheryl looked at him with the softest puppy eyes, making it really hard for him to tell their friends the truth, so he changed his mind at the last second.

“I slept with Cheryl.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew he had fucked up. He meant to say Toni, but the redhead was standing right in front of him, so he screwed up the names. Now he knew how Jason felt at his wedding.

To say that the rest of their friends were shocked was an understatement. After all, Cheryl was a lesbian. The red-haired girl looked ready to kill him, and he didn’t even want to look at her girlfriend; he was man enough to admit that he was terrified of the small girl.

“You slept with my sister?” Jason got closer to him, and even though the redhead was a couple of inches shorter than him, Sweet Pea suddenly felt like the guy was towering over him. “This is not good for my rage.” He said as he pulled some pills from his jacket’s pocket and took one, not even bothering to swallow it with some water. Sweet Pea gulped.

“Uh, yes. But it was… we just did it once… after the rehearsal dinner.” He tried to explain, but luckily Veronica started talking over him before he could say more lies. He had a feeling that it was best if he just shut his mouth.

“Cheryl, is this true?” The raven-haired girl asked her best friend, ignoring Sweet Pea completely and focusing on the taller girl standing between him and Toni.

After throwing a glance in her girlfriend’s direction and having a silent conversation with her, Cheryl opened her mouth to answer. “Yes, it’s true.” She finally said, and Veronica looked lost.

“But, Cheryl, you are a lesbian. How did this happen?” The Latina asked, unable to wrap her head around this whole thing.

“I just wanted to try it once; see what I was supposedly missing. And Sweets was there, and I thought that it would be better to try it with someone I knew rather than with a stranger.” The lies left her lips easily, and for a moment Sweet Pea wondered how often she had lied in her life for this to sound so believable, because even he was buying it.

“If it only happened that one time, why does Sweets have a naked picture of you?” Veronica asked, narrowing her eyes at them.

“It was a souvenir, so he wouldn’t forget that night because it won’t happen ever again. After sleeping with him, I confirmed that I am indeed a lesbian. No offense.” She said the last part while looking at him, and he just shrugged in response.

“But what about the underwear that we found in the other apartment a few days ago? And the video camera?” Fangs asked, and this time Sweet Pea was quick to answer.

“I fucked a girl in that apartment the other night after accidentally locking myself out of this one, and I’m sorry about it. I promise it won’t happened again. And the video camera… My date that night did some porn scenes when she lived in LA, and I was going to try to convince her to film a sex tape with me so I could audition for an erotic film.” He had no idea where these lies were coming from, but everyone seemed convinced by his explanation, and he had to stop himself from sighing in relief.

“So, now that everything has been cleared out, I’m going to get back to my bucket.” Sweet Pea said as he took his friend chicken from the counter and went back to sit down on his reclining chair, ignoring the others’ existence as he started to eat.

Cheryl cleared her through. “Well, I’m going shopping. See you guys later.” The redhead declared before she left the apartment and disappeared down the hall to the direction of the stairs, leaving the gang behind.

Toni seemed to come to her senses a second later, and she started chasing after her girlfriend once she realized that she had left. “Wait! I’m going with you!” She shouted as she ran down the stairs to catch up with her.

After a few more seconds of silence, Jason, Veronica and Fangs left the apartment, and Sweet Pea turned on the TV to watch a movie while he enjoyed his food.

At least Toni and Cheryl were on the clear.

For now.


	4. The one with the shared secret

Often, Veronica wondered why they still had a landline at their apartment if they never used it, but when her phone’s screen cracked thanks to a fall on her way home and she had to call her mom for an important matter, the old phone in their living room came in handy.

She picked up the cordless phone and pushed the familiar green button to start the call, but instead of getting the infamous dial tone that she was so used to, she heard Cheryl’s voice on the other side.

“I can’t wait to be with you. I’ll sneak over as soon as Jason picks up Juggie. I’ll just tell Ronnie I’m gonna be doing laundry for a couple of hours.” Cheryl told someone, and Veronica frowned at her words. Why was her best friend lying to her?

“Laundry, huh? Is that my new nickname?” Toni’s voice replied a second later, and Veronica’s jaw almost hit the floor.

Cheryl and Toni? _How?_

“You know what your nickname is Mistress—” Veronica pushed the red button as fast as she could, not wanting to traumatize herself hearing whatever Cheryl was about to say; the word _mistress_ was already enough for her.

She left the phone on its place and paced the living room for a few moments, hand over her chest in disbelief, before grabbing her keys and wallet and leaving the apartment.

Suddenly, calling her mother didn’t seem that urgent.

 

* * *

 

After grabbing a coffee at Pop’s to distract herself, Veronica made her way back upstairs, but instead of going to her own apartment, she knocked on the door in front of hers before making her way inside as she heard Sweet Pea’s voice on the other side, talking on the phone with someone.

“Sweets, do you have a minute?” She asked him quickly, and he nodded and motioned for her to sit down on one of the barstools by the counter.

“Jason, Ronnie’s here. So good luck, man. Let me know how it works out.” He said as Veronica sat down before ending his call. “What’s up, Ronnie?” Sweet Pea asked her as he focused his attention on her, and the raven-haired girl stood up and started pacing the kitchen.

“Oh, Sweets, I have such a problem.” Veronica said before pausing to take a deep breath. “Okay, okay, okay. Sweets, I’ve _got_ to tell you something.” She said, and Sweets stood up as well.

“What? What is it? What is it?!” He asked, sounding concerned because of Veronica’s tone.

“Oh, my God, it’s so huge. But you just have to promise me you— you cannot tell anyone.” She said urgently, and Sweet Pea started walking to the living room, not wanting to hear anything else.

“No, no, no, no, no. I don’t want to know.” He said quickly, and Veronica looked at him with a confused expression.

“What? Yes, yes, yes. You _do_ want to know. This is unbelievable!” She tried again, but Sweet Pea wouldn’t listen to her.

“I don’t care, Ronnie. Look, I am tired of being the guy who knows all the secrets and can’t tell anyone!” The raven-haired guy said in exasperation, and Veronica frowned t him.

“What? What secrets? You know secrets? What are they?” Veronica asked him quickly and he just shook his head.

“You’re not supposed to be gossiping!” Sweet Pea reminded her of the dumb bet they had made earlier that week, and the Latina looked crushed by his words.

“I know! I just can’t keep this one in.” She was pouting and she knew it, but she didn’t care. “So, I was in my apartment and I picked up the phone—” Before Veronica could continue, the tall guy was covering his ears and singing loudly so she wouldn’t tell him her secret.

After realizing that it was going to be impossible to get through him because he really didn’t want to know, Veronica huffed and turned around, making her way out of the apartment.

 

* * *

 

Later that day, almost all the gang was gathered at Cheryl and Veronica’s living room when its missing member, Jason, arrived sans pants to pick up his son after a disastrous date. He had been trying to move on since Polly put an end to their marriage, but so far it hadn’t been easy.

After Cheryl cheered up her brother with a picture of him as a cowboy that Juggie had drawn earlier that evening, the older redhead said his goodbyes and took his son home with him. Now back to only five members of the gang, Veronica’s attention was focused on Cheryl and Toni’s actions. She was intrigued about whatever was going on between them.

“Okay, now that everything’s wrapped up here, I think I’m gonna go do my laundry.” Cheryl said after a beat of silence, and Veronica bit the inside of her cheek so she wouldn’t start smirking, biting even harder when Toni started talking as well.

“Yeah, me too. You know, this shirt is dirty.” The purple-haired woman said, and after sniffling her shirt in one of the worst acting performances that Veronica had ever witnessed, she was following Cheryl and her laundry basket out the door.

Veronica just watched them go, a suspicious look in her eyes.

“Okay, I’m gonna go, too. Gotta go to the airport. I figured if I hang around there long enough, someone’s bound to leave one of those planes unattended.” Fangs announced as he started taking his jacket and putting it on, and soon he was leaving the apartment as well.

Once Veronica and Sweet Pea were alone, she eyed him carefully for a few seconds, a plan forming in her head. “Hey, Sweets. Remember that big thing I was going to tell you about?” She said as she started cleaning the kitchen, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

The raven-haired boy covered his ears immediately and started singing aloud like he had done hours earlier, clearly not wanting to hear whatever Veronica had to say.

She took his hands and pulled them away from his ears, looking annoyed already. “I’m not going to tell you, but if you found out on your own that would be okay, and then we could talk about it, right?” Veronica tried to trick him, and it seemed like it was working.

“Well, then it wouldn’t be a secret so, yeah, that would be okay. Yeah, yeah.” Sweet Pea reassured her, and she just nodded as she grabbed a cup and took it to the sink.

“Hey, uh, Sweets, would you mind going over into Toni’s bedroom and getting that book back that she borrowed from me?” Veronica asked him innocently, and Sweet Pea’s reaction was all the confirmation she needed. He couldn’t look more nervous.

“Now? You want me to go over there now?” He asked her, his voice trembling slightly.

Veronica just hummed in confirmation.

“Do you know something?” Sweet Pea questioned her, arching an eyebrow.

“Do _you_ know something?” The Latina inquired back, and the raven-haired boy narrowed his eyes at her, trying to read her mind.

“I might know something.” He offered carefully.

“I might know something, too.” She replied immediately.

“What’s the thing that you know?” The tall boy asked in a suspicious but curious tone.

“I can’t tell you till you tell me what you know.” Veronica challenged.

“I can’t tell you what I know.” Sweet Pea mumbled quickly.

“I can’t tell you what _I_ know.” The short girl replied as she sat down opposite the raven-haired boy.

“Okay, fine.” He replied, shrugging as the words left his lips.

They sat in silence for a few moments, neither of them knowing what to say next, when suddenly she felt Sweet Pea’s eyes on her; he was staring.

“You don’t know.” He murmured with a shake of his head, a playful smirk gracing his features.

That was it. She had to do something to get rid of said smirk.

“Alright. How about I go over and walk into Toni’s bedroom and see if the thing I think that I know is actually the thing I think that I know.” Veronica said at a fast pace, and the loud gasp of surprise and shock that left Sweet Pea’s lips felt like a victory.

“You know!” He shouted, pointing a finger at her, and it took her 0.5 seconds to point the same finger back at him.

“And you know!” She accused and he nodded without a second thought. If she was being completely honest with herself, she was kind of hurt by the fact that he knew and she didn’t. “Toni and Cheryl?! Oh, this is unbelievable. How long have you known?!” Veronica asked him, wanting to know exactly for how long everyone had been keeping this from her.

“Too long! Oh my God, Ronnie! I’ve been dying to talk to someone about this for so long! But listen, listen. You can’t say anything to anybody. They’re so weird about that. Listen—” Sweet Pea explained as best as he could before getting interrupted by the front door of the apartment opening, revealing Fangs. Both Sweet Pea and Veronica greeted him, trying to act as normal as possible.

“Hey. It’s raining. I don’t like to fly in the rain, so.” Fangs explained, and for the millionth time, Veronica wondered how he came up with all these crazy ideas.

The three of them fell into a quite awkward silence until Sweet Pea spoke again. “Oh! I am going to go for a walk in the rain.” He said all of a sudden, and Veronica agreed.

“Oh, yeah. Me, too.” The Latina joined him, and soon the pair was leaving the apartment.

Once Fangs was left alone, he started wondering why Sweet Pea and Veronica had been acting so oddly when he arrived. “That’s weird.” He paused for a second. “I bet they’re doing it.” He said to no one, and he nodded at his own words, reassuring himself that his hypothesis had no flaws.

Two of his best friends were indeed seeing each other in secret, but his guess hadn't been correct.

Soon, he would learn just how wrong he had been that night.


	5. The one with the happy ending

When Jason’s divorce finalized, signalizing the end of his short-lived marriage to Polly, he decided that he needed a fresh start, and with a fresh start came a new apartment, which is why he was visiting the one once rented by Archie “The Naked Man” Andrews, alongside Veronica and Fangs, that afternoon.

The apartment was located exactly in front of Cheryl and Veronica’s, in the building across from theirs and, if you asked him, that made the two bedrooms-two and a half bathrooms space just the perfect flat for him because that way he would feel closer to his little sister.

After checking all the rooms to make sure that everything looked in order, and with Fangs’ encouragement, he went to make a deposit to move in as soon as possible, leaving Veronica and the other guy on their own while he took care of business.

“Well, I never thought that I would end up using The Naked Man’s bathroom, but I really need to pee and I can’t hold it any longer, so I will be back in a minute.” Veronica announced as she made her way to the hall where they had seen the guest bathroom earlier. Fangs paid her no attention and instead walked to the floor to ceiling window that gave them access to Veronica and Cheryl’s apartment at the other side of the street.

“Oh, there’s Toni and Cheryl!” He said excitedly when he saw his friends in the other apartment, standing and talking by the window. He started to wave at them and to call their names in an attempt to get their attention, completely ignoring the fact that they were too far away to actually hear him.

When the girls started kissing lovingly and taking each other’s clothes, Fangs felt his eyes widening, the image in front of him almost making him go blind as his jaw dropped open in shock. He was so surprised by what he was seeing that he didn’t even hear Veronica joining him by the window.

“Toni and Cheryl! Toni and Cheryl!” He started shouting to no one in particular, the shock making him lose his mind for a few seconds as he saw the scene unfold in front of his eyes. “TONI AND CHERYL! OH, MY EYES! MY EYES!” He yelled to the top of his lungs as Veronica started shouting with him.

“Fangs, it’s okay! Everything’s okay!” The raven-haired girl tried to call him down, but it wasn’t working. He just couldn’t get over what he had just witnessed. Two of his best friends were having sex; with each other.

“They’re doing it!” He pointed out, not understanding why Veronica was so calmed about this whole situation, but her next words made him understand.

“I know! And Sweet Pea knows! But Jason doesn’t know, so you have to stop screaming!” She shouted at him and that seemed to finally shut him up, which was a relief because not even ten seconds later, Jason was joining them once again.

“Hey, why were you guys screaming?” The redheaded guy asked, confused about what had happened while he was gone.

“We’re just really excited about you getting this apartment!” Veronica lied and Fangs was fast to join her in, also making comments about how good the apartment was and how lucky Jason was to call it his home now.

Jason bought the lie easily and soon the three of them were happily jumping and shouting, the couple at the other side of the street completely forgotten.

 

* * *

 

Later that day, Veronica and Fangs were at Pop’s talking about Cheryl and Toni’s relationship when Sweet Pea joined them, and the raven-haired girl was quick to fill him in on what had happened earlier.

“Sweets, Fangs knows about Cheryl and Toni! We were at The Naked Man’s apartment earlier and we saw them doing it up against the window. It was pretty graphic and I would like to forget about it, but the important thing here is that Fangs also knows about them now.” She explained, excited about the fact that more people knew about the secret relationship and she had more people to talk about it now.

“Okay, so now they know you know and they don’t know that Veronica knows?” Fangs tried to make sense of the whole thing, and after a few seconds to process his words Sweet Pea nodded at him.

“But that doesn’t really matter, because now that more people know, we can just tell them that we know and finally all the lies and secrets will be over.” The taller guy said, tired of all the lies that had been going around since he found out about his friends secretly hooking up.

“Or, we can keep this to ourselves and have a little fun of our own.” Fangs suggested, his eyes sparking with mischief.

“What do you mean?” Veronica asked, sounding interested.

“Well, if they try to go to the movies alone, we tag along. Or if they say that they’re going to do laundry, we ask them to do ours as well.” The shorter guy started throwing ideas and Veronica nodded in approval, a playful smirk gracing her features.

“You know what would be the most fun? Telling them that we know!” Sweet Pea said, stress taking over his body at the idea of keeping this secret any longer, something that he expressed to his friends, but Veronica didn’t care and ignored him, deciding to go along with Fangs’ plan instead.

“So, what else you do have in mind?” She asked the shorter guy as Sweet Pea sighed in defeat next to her, and in minutes they had created this whole elaborated plan to mess with the secret couple.

Said plan was put into motion sooner than they expected it as Toni made her way into Pop’s twenty minutes later and greeted them before walking to the counter to order a chocolate milkshake.

“Watch and learn, children.” Fangs said before he joined the purple-haired girl at the counter. “Hey, Toni. Did you get a new belly button piercing? Your abs look fantastic. Have you been working out more?” He said, pointing to her abdomen, which was exposed thanks to her crop top. He wanted to touch her abs, but changed his mind at the last second, deciding that it wasn’t the best idea to touch a woman without her consent, friend or not.

“Yeah, I’ve been going to the gym more often lately. Thanks for noticing.” Toni replied with a sweet but confused smile. She had no idea why Fangs was suddenly complementing her abs. “So, how have you been?” She asked her friend, making light conversation while she waited for her milkshake.

“Well, if you really wanna know— No, I can’t tell you this. You’re the last person who should know this, but the one I want to tell the most.” Fangs replied, looking everywhere but at her.

“Fangs, it’s me. You can tell me anything.” Toni reassured him, looking at him worryingly when she noticed how nervous he looked.

“It’s just… It’s been a while since I was with a girl, and sometimes it takes you a while to realize that who you really want is standing right there waiting for her milk— Oh, no. Did I say too much?” He paused before getting closer to move a lock of purple hair behind her ear, causing Toni’s breath to hitch for a second at the surprising gesture. “It’s something to think about. I know I will.” He finished before going back to Veronica and Sweet Pea’s booth to grab his coat, leaving a confused Toni alone with her chocolate milkshake and her thoughts.

What the hell just happened?

 

* * *

 

“God, you’re so hot.” Cheryl murmured against Toni’s neck as they laid in bed that night, leaving open-mouthed kisses on her girlfriend’s tanned skin. “How did you get this hot?” She asked, licking a line from her collarbone to her jaw before nipping her skin playfully.

Toni took a second to moan at Cheryl’s actions before answering. “I guess puberty was good to me. Also, good genes; you have seen my parents.” Another pause to groan when pale fingers made their way under her pajama top and started tracing her abs, which made her remember what had happened that afternoon. “You know, apparently a lot of people found me hot today.” The purple-haired girl said thoughtfully, her girlfriend’s fingers pausing their movements on her abdomen at her words.

“What are you talking about?” The redhead simply asked, confused by Toni’s words. She must have heard her wrong.

“Something weird happened at Pop’s today. I think Fangs was hitting on me.” Toni explained, still trying to figure out what had happened earlier.

“That’s impossible.” Cheryl replied quickly and she knew immediately that it was the wrong thing to say.

“Ouch.” The older girl said, half joking-half serious, and the redhead kissed her cheek sweetly as an apology.

“T.T., you know that’s not what I meant. It’s just that, we know that Fangs is more into guys nowadays, so I find the idea of him hitting on a girl almost impossible, let alone you of all people because he doesn’t seem like the type to hook up with his friends. I think you read the whole situation wrong.” Cheryl explained herself before pressing a kiss to Toni’s jaw.

“Baby, I swear that he was hitting on me. He was talking about how he hadn’t been with a girl in a while and how maybe the girl for him was standing right in front of him and then he moved my hair behind my ear. It was weirdly intimate.” The purple-haired girl frowned, now completely sure that her friend had been hitting on her.

“Well, he better not tries anything because you’re mine.” Cheryl said possessively before closing the distance between them and pressing her lips against Toni’s, only pulling apart when oxygen was necessary a few minutes later. “Now, forget about Fangs and make love to me.” She purred against full pink lips.

“Yes, ma’am.” Toni mumbled back before rolling them over so she was now on top, all thoughts of their friend and his seductive nature forgotten.

 

* * *

 

“Well, I’m going to do laundry.” Cheryl announced the next morning after having breakfast with Toni, Veronica and Fangs. “Do you wanna keep me company so I don’t get bored?” The question was directed to Toni, who faked surprise at hearing the redhead’s words.

Veronica just rolled her eyes.

“Sure. I have nothing better to do.” Toni agreed as she started taking the dirty dishes to the sink; she could wash them later.

“Fangs and I were actually planning on catching a movie. Why don’t you come with us instead?” Veronica asked her, and she almost laughed out loud at the nervous look on Toni’s face.

“You know, I just remembered that I actually have a lot of laundry to do as well, so I’ll have to pass this time. Raincheck?” Toni lied, and the raven-haired girl couldn’t believe that they hadn’t caught them for months; those two were terrible liars.

“Sure.” She just shrugged, pretending to believe her. “Come on, Fangs. We have to get going; the movie is starting soon.” Veronica said as she picked up her purse from the coffee table and started making her way to the front door, but when she looked over her shoulder, she almost snorted at what she witnessed.

“Bye, Toni. I’m missing you already.” Fangs told the purple-haired girl as he passed her on his way to the door, but the cherry on top came when he leaned down to press a chaste kiss to her cheek, leaving the apartment before any of the girls could utter a word.

“Did you see that?!” Toni exclaimed in disbelief, and when she turned to look at her girlfriend, she confirmed that the redhead had indeed seen what had happened.

Cheryl was fuming.

“What the _fuck_ was he thinking?! Why did he do that?!” Cheryl was pacing the kitchen, her cheeks red with rage. How dare he touch her girlfriend?

Fangs wasn’t like this. He wouldn’t try to seduce one of his closest friends out of nowhere just because he hadn’t hooked up with anyone for a while. Plus, like she had told the older girl the night before, he hadn’t been interested in a girl in years, so taking a liking on Toni all of a sudden made no sense. There had to be an explana—

And then it hit her.

“Fangs knows about us.” Cheryl said as she stopped pacing, her gaze meeting Toni’s.

Her girlfriend frowned for a few seconds, trying to make sense of what the redhead was saying, and her eyes widened when her brain came to the same conclusion as Cheryl. “Fangs knows about us.” She repeated.

It just made a lot of sense. Fangs knew that they were together and was trying to throw them off their game, pushing them to come clean about their relationship.

That little shit.

Toni and Cheryl went to the apartment across the hall and found Sweet Pea on his recliner chair, scrolling through his phone without a care in the world.

“Sweets, Fangs knows about us.” Toni said as she stood in front of him, her words making him focus his attention on the couple instead of his phone.

“Well, I didn’t tell them.” Sweet Pea was fast to answer, but he mentally kicked himself when he realized what he had said.

“Them?! Who’s them?!” Cheryl shouted at him, scared of the answer. Jason couldn’t know that they were together; he would never forgive Toni for sleeping with his little sister.

“Fangs and… Sweet Pea.” The raven-haired guy replied, thinking that they were dumb enough to believe that he was referring to himself in the third person.

“Nathaniel?” Cheryl kept pushing; he had to tell them who knew about them.

“And Veronica.” He finally said after a couple of seconds. “But they made me promise that I wouldn’t tell you that they know! I’m sorry.” He was quick to add. “But, hey, this means that you can finally stop hiding your relationship and I can go back to not keeping secrets from anyone.” He finished, happy about the sudden turn of events. He was tired of lying.

“Unless…” Cheryl started talking and Sweet Pea groaned loudly; not again. The redhead ignored him and kept her train of thoughts. “They think that they’re smarter than they actually are and that they can mess with us, but they don’t know that we know that they know, so now we have the upper hand on their little game.” She said excitedly.

“The messers become the messees!” Toni added, sounding just as excited.

Sweet Pea, as per usual, just sighed in defeat.

 

* * *

 

Veronica, Fangs and Sweet Pea were hanging out at the raven-haired girl’s apartment when the shorter guy got a call from Toni, and before he pressed the green button to pick up, he smirked and showed the caller ID to his friends so they knew who he was talking to.

“Hey, you.” He said in a seductive tone, making Sweet Pea snort and Veronica roll her eyes.

“Hey, Fangs. So, here’s the thing; I’ve been thinking about you all day.” Toni replied from the other side of the line, her tone dropping an octave and sounding raspier than usual, which caused Fangs to gulp.

“What?” He asked dumbfoundedly, not knowing what else to say. She had really caught him off guard.

“Yeah… I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday about not hooking up with a girl in a while and maybe I could help you out with that. Sweets won’t be home tonight, so you could come over and see my new belly button piercing up close. Or maybe you could check out the nipple piercings that I got last month.” Toni said seductively and Fangs almost dropped his phone at her words. He could feel Sweet Pea and Veronica’s eyes on him, but he couldn’t meet their gazes.

“I- I’ll have to get back to you on that. T- Talk to you later. Bye.” He quickly ended the call, not even caring that he had started stuttering because of how nervous he was.

“Fangs, what happened?” Veronica asked, concerned.

“She wants me to go to her place tonight and check out her new nipple piercings!” The shorter guy replied, starting to pace the living room.

“Are you kidding me?! I can’t believe she would do that to Cher—” Veronica started talking with a tone of indignation, but stopped as realization hit her. She stood there for a few seconds, watching Fangs walk back and forth in the space between the TV and the coffee table, before she turned to the couch, her eyes focusing on Sweet Pea, who was looking everywhere but at her.

“Sweet Pea, do they know that we know?” Veronica asked her friend, an accusatory finger pointing at him.

“No…” He replied slowly, still not meeting her eyes.

“Nathaniel?” She called his real name as a warning, and he sighed in annoyance before finally meeting her gaze.

“They know you know.” He confirmed, causing the only girl in the room to groan out loud.

“I knew it! There’s no way that Toni would cheat on Cheryl. I can’t believe that they tried to play us.” She said as she made her way to Fangs, who had finally stopped pacing.

“But…” Fangs opened his mouth before pausing for a couple of seconds to gather his thoughts. “They don’t know that we know they know we know.” He said enthusiastically before turning to look at Sweet Pea. “And you can’t say anything to them!” He warned, receiving an eye roll from the taller guy.

“I couldn’t if I wanted to.” He replied with a shake of his head before taking his phone out of his jeans pocket and deciding to scroll through social media to ignore the other two people in the room. He was so done with this whole thing.

 

* * *

 

“Look at them. They’re so nervous. There’s no way that they won’t back down.” Cheryl told Toni a few hours later when they went back to her apartment. Veronica and Fangs were sitting on the couch, having a low and private conversation, but they would turn to look at the couple sitting at the kitchen every once in a while, making it very clear that they were talking about them.

“Alright. If Toni wants a date, I’m gonna give her a date.” Fangs told Veronica as he stood up from the couch. “I’m going in. Wish me luck.” He told the raven-haired girl before making his way to the kitchen, interrupting whatever conversation was going on between the redhead and her girlfriend.

“So, Toni, I’ve been thinking about it and I would love to come by your place tonight.” Fangs informed her, licking his lips as he finished talking before offering her what he thought was a sexy smile; he wasn’t wrong.

The look of pure shock on Toni’s face was priceless.

“Really? Well, I can’t wait to see you tonight.” The purple-haired girl replied with a fake smile.

“Is 7:30 a good time for you?” He asked her as he started playing with a strand of purple hair, and when she nodded, he offered her another charming smile. “Perfect. I’m really looking forward to spending the night with you.” He let go of her hair to caress her cheek with a tenderness that Toni didn’t even know he possessed before stepping out of her personal space and going back to the couch.

They couldn’t have been more wrong about Fangs and Veronica backing down.

 

* * *

 

“Showtime!” Veronica shouted cheerfully before helping Fangs with the collar of his shirt, making sure that everything looked in order. She had to admit that he had cleaned up nicely. Maybe if he put this effort more often, he wouldn’t spend months without getting laid.

“Sweet Pea, could you get me a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses?” Fangs ordered his friend as he finished putting on his watch, the last touch to his outfit. The taller guy rolled his eyes but did as his friend ask.

In the apartment across the hall, Cheryl was giving Toni’s makeup its finishing touches. “Blot.” She ordered her girlfriend, smiling against her lips when the older girl leaned closer to kiss her softly. “It’s going to be fine, T.T.” She tried to reassure the purple-haired girl when she saw the nervous look on her face after they pulled apart from their kiss. “Just make him believe that you want to have sex with him. He obviously won’t go through it, so he’ll start freaking out. You have nothing to worry about; he’ll surrender before you know it.”

The redhead pecked her girlfriend’s lips one last time, not wanting to ruin her lipstick, before making her way to the bathroom when she heard a knock at the front door at exactly 7:30 PM. Who would have thought that Fangs was that punctual?

When Toni opened the front door, the first thing she noticed was that Fangs had actually put some effort on his appearance. The second thing she noticed was that he had brought wine.

“Hey, Fangs. I was waiting for you. Come on in.” The shorter girl greeted him, praying that she sounded, and looked, as seductive as she thought she did while leaning against the doorframe.

Fangs just offered her a smile before making his way through the door. “I brought some wine. Would you like some?” He asked as he put the bottle and glasses on the kitchen counter, and when he received confirmation from his ‘date’, he started pouring them a glass each. “A toast.” He said as he passed her one of the glasses. “For us. And for this special night.” He smiled playfully.

“Cheers.” Toni replied before clicking her glass with his. “I’m going to put on some music.” She declared after drinking most of her wine, trying to calm her nerves, and made her way to the speaker situated next to the TV, her phone already in her hand.

When an old R&B song started playing, probably by Usher or Mario or any of those late 90s-early 00s singers, Fangs started dancing rhythmically along to the music, getting closer to her with each step. Toni gulped.

“I forgot how good of a dancer you are.” She commented, making him smile almost shyly.

“Thanks.” He paused. “You know, when you say things like that, it makes me wanna get you flat on your back on top of any available surface.” He said it with such confidence that Toni almost choked on air, her eyes widening as she registered his words.

She wasn’t expecting that.

Toni cleared her throat in an effort to buy herself some time before she uttered her next words. “Well, why don’t we move this to my bedroom?” She asked in a raspy voice, and now it was his turn to choke on air.

Payback’s a bitch.

“I would love that.” They just looked at each other for a few seconds, both lost in thoughts, before he opened his mouth again. “Do you have condoms? I was running late, so I couldn’t stop by to buy some.” Those were the words that left his lips, and Toni just nodded.

“Yeah. We have some in the bathroom. I’ll go get them.” She replied before leaving him standing alone in the living room while she disappeared behind the bathroom door. “This is getting out of control. He thinks that I’m here grabbing some condoms.” She told Cheryl as soon as the door was closed.

“He’s bluffing!” The redhead replied, sounding pretty confident about her words.

“Babe, I’m serious. He’s not going to back down. I’m starting to think that he may legitimately be into me.” Toni said worryingly.

“He’s not and you know it. T.T., you've got this.” Cheryl said with a reassuring smile.

Outside of the bathroom, by the front door, Fangs was having a similar conversation with Veronica and Sweet Pea.

“She’s not gonna back down. She asked me to move things to the bedroom and she’s in the bathroom getting us condoms. I thought I would be able to break her, but I can’t.” The shorter guy whined, making Sweet Pea roll his eyes.

“Toni never backs down from a challenge. This whole plan is terrible.” Sweet Pea told them and Veronica turned to look at him with an annoyed expression.

“Instead of being a pessimistic pain in the ass, you should be helping us because, may I remind you, the sooner Toni breaks, the sooner all of this will end and you’ll finally be able to stop keeping secrets.” Veronica’s words seemed to get his attention.

“Take off your shirt.” The taller guy told Fangs, and the man in question just frowned at him. Sweet Pea huffed in annoyance. “Perfect pectorals freak out Toni for some bizarre reason, and you happen to have a couple of those so, take off your shirt.” He repeated and Fangs was quick to follow orders, unbuttoning his shirt just as he heard the bathroom door opening.

Fangs closed the front door on Veronica and Sweet Pea’s faces before running to his original standing position between the kitchen and the living room.

“Everything okay? I heard the front door closing and I thought for a moment that you had left.” Toni asked him as she joined him in the weird half kitchen-half living room section of the apartment.

“Yeah, I was just making sure that the door was properly closed, that’s all.” He lied and the shorter girl nodded, pretending to believe him.

“I got the condoms.” She showed him the box and saw him gulp.

Fangs took his unbuttoned shirt off and threw it somewhere in the kitchen to be picked up later. Toni froze.

“You like what you see?” He asked, eyebrow raised in an attempt to look cool and collected, but the truth was that he was biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from laughing at the look of horror and disgust in Toni’s face at the sight of his naked upper body.

“Y- Yeah.” She lied after clearing her throat. A pause before her next words. “Well, what are you waiting for? Kiss me.” It was the ultimate challenge and both of them knew it.

Fangs took a step closer to her. “I’m gonna kiss you know.” He declared, getting into her personal space, and Toni had to stop herself from taking a step back when he grabbed her by the waist.

“I wanna see you try.” She shot back, a playful smirk appearing on her lips as Fangs started leaning closer, almost in slow motion, his eyes closing on their own accord.

Toni Topaz had never backed down from a challenge.

Until she did.

When she felt Fangs’ lips barely brushing against hers, she finally broke.

“Okay, you win!” Toni declared out loud as she took several steps back to put some distance between them. “I can’t have sex with you!” She told him, and she wanted nothing more than to slap that stupid smirk off his face.

“And why not?” Fangs asked, feigning ignorance, and she huffed at him.

“Because I’m in love with Cheryl!” It was the first time she had said it out loud, and boy, did it feel good.

The bathroom door and the front door opened at the same time.

“Y- You what?” The shirtless guy asked, shocked.

“Love her! That’s right. I love her. _I_ love _her_!” Toni pointed to herself before moving her finger in Cheryl’s direction, and when she finally turned towards her girlfriend, she couldn’t help but smile at the look of pure love in her favorite chocolate eyes. “I love you, Cheryl.” She murmured softly as she wrapped her arms around the redhead’s waist, pale arms wrapping around Toni’s neck in return.

In that instant, Toni promised herself to make Cheryl smile as big as she was smiling in that precise moment for the rest of her life. It was the secret smile that only the purple-haired girl knew about.

“I love you, too, Toni.” Cheryl murmured back just as softly as a couple of happy tears escaped her eyes, and a second later the older girl was finally closing the gap between them, pink lips meeting red ones in a kiss filled with so much love and adoration.

When they pulled apart a couple of minutes later, it was Fangs’ voice what reminded them that they weren’t alone.

“I thought you were only hooking up. I never realized that you were in love.” He said in awe, seeing his friends being in love making him feel all warm and fuzzy.

“I hate to admit this, but you’re quite the competitor, Fangs. Well played.” Toni declared before they shook hands. “And, just in case you haven’t noticed, you’re still shirtless.” She reminded him, a blush reddening his tanned cheeks as he started looking for his discarded shirt in the kitchen’s floor.

“Now that everyone knows, it’s finally over! No more secrets!” Sweet Pea said happily, but his excitement was short-lived as Cheryl and Toni turned to him with identical apologetic looks.

“Well, actually, Jason still doesn’t know...” The redhead trailed off before her girlfriend continued her train of thoughts for her.

“Yeah, so we would appreciate it if no one told him yet.” Toni finished.

Sweet Pea turned around and walked out of the apartment.

 

* * *

 

Jason caught them a week later. At first, he was beyond pissed at his best friend for sleeping with his little sister, but once he calmed down, and after they assured him that they were actually in love and this wasn’t just a casual thing, he realized that the idea of his best friend dating his little sister wasn’t really that terrible.

He just hoped that Toni actually said Cheryl’s name at their wedding.


End file.
